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The original 1984 Ghostbusters was lightning in a bottle, a unique blend of tongue-in-cheek horror and snarky comedy that not even its own sequel could match. And for roughly 25 years people demanded a third Ghostbusters movie. Some original cast members like Bill Murray were reluctant, however release of the well-received 2009 Ghostbusters Video Game gave fans a treat, reuniting the voice-talents of the original Ghostbusters cast with several moments of fan service. And yet, the fans demanded more. On March 3, 2016, the trailer for the new 2016 Ghostbusters movie dropped with the tag line “Ghostbusters makes its long-awaited return, rebooted with a cast of hilarious new characters.”

And then the world collectively learned one of life’s most valuable rules:
“Be careful what you wish for.”

The trailer for the 2016 Ghostbusters movie was met with a backlash of criticisms and both the US trailer and International trailer were overwhelmingly down-voted.

And as usual, CCS is late to the party. We’d might as well get this out of the way: any criticisms, even legitimate critiques, about the new all-female Ghostbusters movie is going to be met with screaming either racism or sexism. Not least of all Sony Pictures, themselves, who have allegedly been skimming out the legitimate trailer criticisms in order to pin its inevitable failures on the fact that the film has an all-female cast. Director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) has been on a social media tirade, hiding behind the shield of “sexism” in response to not only the inevitable leagues of Internet trolls, but also the constructive criticism that the trailers has completely humorless. Despite the ‘inclusive’ and ‘feel-good’ intents of the project, social media backlash in regards to the black Ghostbuster being ‘street smart’ instead of a ‘scientist’ has been enough to prompt response by Ghostbusters actress and comedian Leslie Jones. It just goes to show that you can’t please everyone… Finally, a Reddit user has leaked the full script of the 2016 Ghostbusters movie. While one must take a leak like this with a grain of salt, the full account of the humorless script fits several key scenes in the International Ghostbusters trailer and merchandise roll-out. Additionally, the Reddit account documents the creative conflicts between Paul Feig and Ghostbusters fan/actress Melissa McCarthy, and the Sony Email Leaks by North Korean hackers that indicate that Sony Pictures was attempting to seek legal action against any Original 1984 Ghostbuster actors that refused to cameo in what is apparently a reboot of the beloved franchise.

The loveable lunatic with the foul mouth and the iconic laugh, Laughingman is the founder of CCS. With more coffee than copper in his bloodstream, he's a full-time website developer by day, and a gamer, editor, and fiction writer by night.

A subversive excommunicated from [REDACTED] as a result of a failed coup d'etat, CineMax has miraculously managed to reach and find asylum in the Land of the Free. Here he spends his days working for Cheshire Cat Studios, all the while plotting his inevitable return to the motherland to once again foment the flames of revolution.

6 Comments on “FemBusters: Sony’s Damage Control for the Ghostbusters Reboot”

Even if this podcast does end with a pessimistic, I cannot afford to become a cynic like you LaughingMan and CineMax, I must remain optimistic in the midst of all the darkness that’s going on in this world.

In the dialogue Choose Life with Daisaku Ikeda and Arnold Toynbee, they do talk about nihilism. “Nihilism, I suppose, a despair and rejection of human life and of the universe without any vision of an alternative.” Here is what Ikeda-Sensei says, “A cynic sees everything as empty or worthless, and the soul of such a person will not create anything of value… Is it not philosophy or what I call ‘the religious spirit’ that will brighten our inner world?”

I must be honest that I’m all for a all female cast of the ghostbusters. But my optimism was ruined when I read the supposedly leaked info about the movie.
As much as I like the *thought* about the gender twist, it isn’t enough if the final product is something that is far from the generel tone of the original movies. 🙁
Cheap humor doesn’t make a master piece.

In defense of the director (ok, honestly, nor really – I couldn’t care less about him, or this crap of a movie), there is a certain problem with an all female cast. When you have “guy” characters, they have certain flaws, and these flaws are as much part of their personalities as their “strengths”. Some of the funniest humour is often based around these flaws. But just try to make a joke about a flawed female character nowadays…

It’s all “strengths” and “problems”, but certainly not “weaknesses”. “Problems should never be the fault of the (female) character, space fluffies(tm) forbid!” And all this results in bland personalities that wouldn’t work in any movie, let alone comedy. Then consider that many jokes (and one-liners) of the 70’s-80’s-even 90’s are taboo nowadays.

In the end, I’m not saying that this is a good movie. It most certainly is not. I’m just saying that it is increasingly difficult to make a good movie nowadays without stepping on someone’s sore thumb… and it shows.

Of course, I could be 100% wrong… but, whenever I see an actually funny movie, I also wonder how it managed to go through political correctness checks without getting neutered (see what I did there).

Cheshire Cat Studios is the home of what we hope is a mix of artistic integrity and dry humor. We share a passion for movies, games and other mediums but are looking to spread our reach into more original content in the future: investigative videos, satirical comedies, and animated podcasts. We like to think that we approach topics with a down to earth, analytical viewpoint and don’t play favorites.